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On July 20, 2005 Roger Batt and Bryan Dallolio are standing in a tall patch of Scotch Thistle. Roger comments, "When it comes to noxious weeds, it looks like Scotch Thistle could really inflict some real pain on Idaho." Bryan touches one of the plants and notes that these are spiny from one end to the other, except for possibly right at the flower bud. The bracts are nothing but spines and the weed has winged fringes with nothing but spines sticking out of them. Bryan explains that he can look for these winged fringes when the plants are small to distinguish this weed from a more common Bull Thistle that is not a noxious weed. Roger touches a needle and says, "these are like hypodermic needles almost, sticking out of here." He wouldn't want to fall or run into a patch of Scotch Thistle. Bryan explains that this weed is a real problem for recreation users. As thick as this is, a person couldn't walk through it and a person would not want to ride a bike or a horse through this plant. Roger also states that, "What amazes me is that the last time we saw this about 3 months ago it was a pretty large rosette." Now it is amazing to see how tall and wide these plants get. They look like a tree. Bryan agrees and notes that sometimes the County Weed Control will mistake these for trees at a distance, they can get that big. But when they look close they say, "Wait a minute - that's Scotch Thistle!"
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